EKpilobium. — Jussiaea. 679 
Ovary inferior, 4-celled, with numerous ovules in each cell; style 
filiform; stigma entire and club-shaped in the Egyptian species, 
4-lobed in some others. Capsule elongated, opening loculicidally 
in 4 valves from the summit downwards. Seeds small, with a tuft 
of long hairs at the end. — Herbs, mostly erect, or with a decum- 
bent or creeping base. Leaves opposite or irregularly scattered. 
Flowers pink or red, rarely white, solitary in the upper axils or 
forming a terminal raceme. 
The genus is diffused over nearly the whole globe—from the extreme 
Arctic regions of both hemispheres to the tropics. The numerous forms the 
species assume in every variety of climate make it exceedingly difficult to 
define them upon any certain principle, and botanists seldom agree as to the 
number they should admit. 
967. Epilobium hirsutum L. Spec. Plant. I (1753), p.494. — 
Boiss. Flor. Or. Hl, p. 746. — Ic. Engl. Bot., tab. 838. — Aschers.- 
Schweinf. Il. Flor. d’Eg., p. 76 no. 436. — An annual plant, 60 cm to 
1m high, sometimes more. Villous and glandular-pubescent. Leaves 
more or less hirsute, oblong-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, cuspidate, 
denticulate, clasping, somewhat decurrent. Calyx-lobes lanceolate, 
aristate; corolla pink, 1,2—-1,5 cm broad. — Flow. March to April. 
N. d. N. v. Not rare, on the sides of the irrigation Canals. — 
O. Little Oasis; Farafra; Dakhel. 
Local name: néket-ibliss. 
Also known from other parts of the Mediterranean region and Kurope. 
374. Jussiaea Linn. 
Calyx-tube not produced above the ovary; lobes 4, 5 or rarely 6 
persistent. Petals as many as calyx-lobes. Stamens twice as many 
as calyx-lobes. Ovary with as many cells as calyx-lobes and 
numerous ovules in each cell; style short or long or scarcely any; 
stigma more or less lobed. Capsule terete or with as many or 
twice as many ribs or angles as calyx-lobes, opening septicidally 
in valves separating from the persistent ribs or irregularly between 
the ribs. Seeds usually numerous; testa thin or crustaceous, or 
thick and spongy. — Herbs, sometimes aquatic, or rarely shrubs. 
Leaves alternate, entire or very rarely serrate. Flowers yellow or 
white, solitary in the axils; petals usually broad. 
A considerable genus widely distributed throughout Tropical and Sub- 
tropical regions. 
A. Creeping or floating herb . ... . bis ga en te ODODE 
b. Erect or ascending, not roothing at the hodes Seah sae le LETO Lge 
